Sheffield Wednesday have offered an apology to the families of the 96 Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster and welcomed the released of the official documents which have been made available for the first time today.

Liverpool fans have spent years campaigning for the truth about the Hillsborough disaster (Picture: Getty)

The Championship side said they hope the documents will help ‘bring closure’ for the relatives of those who lost their lives at the club’s stadium in 1989.Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough ground was the venue for the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, which was abandoned just a few minutes after kick-off, as fans of the Merseyside club were crushed to death in the Leppings Lane end.

Hillsborough documents have been released to the families of the 96 victims (Picture: Reuters)

A statement from Sheffield Wednesday said: ‘Chairman Milan Mandaric and the current board of directors have adopted a policy of complete compliance with the requests of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and on behalf of the club would like to offer our sincere condolences and an apology to all the families who have suffered as a consequence of the tragic events of 15 April, 1989.’Sheffield Wednesday FC welcomes the release of the Hillsborough Independent Panel report and would like to acknowledge the enormous amount of hard work by all involved during what was, and continues to be, an extremely emotive process.

‘Sheffield Wednesday would also like to record its gratitude for the thoroughly dignified manner with which the Hillsborough Family Support Group and its representatives conducted themselves throughout all levels of consultation with the club.

‘We can only hope that the publication of the report goes some way to providing the closure sought by all those involved.’

Liverpool’s Hillsborough Memorial at Anfield was covered with flowers before the release of the official documents (Picture: Getty)

The Hillsborough Independent Panel has been overseeing the release of thousands of pages of previously unseen documents from various official sources, including the government, police, emergency services, Sheffield City Council and the South Yorkshire coroner.

The families of the victims were given access to the papers at 8am today, before Prime Minister David Cameron addresses MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon. The documents will then be uploaded to a website for viewing by the general public.